Section 1: Police-reported family violence against children and youth in Canada, 2017

by Shana Conroy

Police-reported family violence against children and youth higher in 2017 than 2016

• In 2017, there were 59,236 child and youth victims (aged 17 years and younger) of police-reported violence in Canada.^Note  Females represented over half (56%) of victims in this age group (Table 1.1).
• Overall, 33% of child and youth victims had been subjected to violence by a casual acquaintance and 18% by a stranger. Of all child and youth victims of violence, 30% were victimized by a family member such as a parent, sibling or other family member; this was slightly more common among females than males (32% versus 27%) (Table 1.1).^Note 
• Between 2009 and 2017, the rate of family violence against children and youth decreased by 7%, a notably smaller decline than for the rate of non-family violence among children and youth (-30%). Between 2016 and 2017, however, rates of family violence and non-family violence against children and youth both increased by 6% (Chart 1.1).^Note 

Nearly six in ten child and youth victims of police-reported family violence victimized by a parent

• In 2017, nearly six in ten (58%) child and youth victims of police-reported family violence were victimized by a parent. This was most common among victims aged 5 years and younger (73%) and least common among those aged 15 to 17 years (44%) (Table 1.1).
• Among child and youth victims of family violence, the majority (53%) of females were victimized by a parent, and this was even more common among their male counterparts (66%). The next most common relationship was another type of family member, such as a grandparent, uncle, aunt, cousin or in-law (25% of females and 18% of males), followed by a sibling (18% of females and 15% of males) (Table 1.1).

Physical assault most common type of police-reported family violence against children and youth

• The overall rate of police-reported family violence against children and youth was 250 per 100,000 population in 2017. Similar to non-family violence against children and youth, rates of family violence increased with age: from 144 per 100,000 population for those aged 5 years and younger to 367 per 100,000 for those aged 15 to 17 years (Table 1.2).
• Overall, physical assault was the most common type of family violence reported (56%), followed by sexual offences (32%); however, differences emerged depending on the sex of the victim. Female children and youth had similar rates for physical assault (138 per 100,000 population) and sexual offences (134 per 100,000 population). Meanwhile, among their male counterparts, physical assault still had, by far, the highest rate for male victims, while the rate for sexual offences was much lower (142 versus 27 per 100,000 population) (Table 1.2).^Note 

Three-quarters of child and youth victims of police-reported family-related sexual offences saw a charge laid

• A criminal incident is considered cleared when a charge is laid or recommended, or when it is dealt with by police in another way (for example, through a diversionary program). When it came to incidents that were cleared, family violence against children and youth was more likely to result in a charge than non-family violence. For instance, in cases of sexual offences, 75% of child and youth victims saw a charge laid in relation to the family-related incident they experienced, compared to 69% of victims of non-family related incidents that were cleared (Table 1.3).
• Differences among child and youth victims emerged depending on their sex. While a similar proportion of female and male victims of cleared incidents of family-related physical assault saw a charge laid (56% versus 53%), female victims were more likely than male victims to see a charge laid for family-related sexual offences (76% versus 67%) (Table 1.3).

Physical force used against three in four child and youth victims of police-reported family violence

• Physical force was used against three in four (74%) child and youth victims of family violence. In addition, approximately one in six (17%) child and youth victims of family violence were involved in incidents where a weapon was present, and the presence of a firearm was rare (1%) (Table 1.4).^Note 
• Six in ten (61%) child and youth victims of family violence had no physical injury as a result of the incident they experienced. Meanwhile, of the four in ten (39%) that did have a physical injury, nearly all were minor in nature (Table 1.4).

Rate of police-reported family violence against children and youth more than three times higher among male accused

• Similar proportions of female and male accused of police-reported violence against children and youth victimized a family member (32% versus 29%) (Table 1.5).^Note 
• For those accused of family violence against children and youth, there were 9 females and 31 males per 100,000 population, respectively. Both female and male accused were most commonly aged 18 to 44 years (18 and 49 per 100,000, respectively) (Table 1.5).

Rate of police-reported family violence against children and youth higher in every census metropolitan area for female victims

• Among the provinces, family violence against children and youth was highest overall in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (475 and 351 per 100,000 population, respectively) while it was lowest in Ontario, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island (168, 180 and 181 per 100,000 population, respectively). Similar to crime in general, rates of family violence against children and youth were highest in the territories (Table 1.6).
• While the rate of family violence against children and youth increased by 6% overall between 2016 and 2017, there was a great deal of variation, ranging from an increase of 21% in Nova Scotia and a decrease of 20% in Yukon (Table 1.6).^Note 
• Overall, the rate of family violence was higher for children and youth in rural areas than it was in urban areas (406 versus 214 per 100,000 population) (Chart 1.2).^Note  This pattern remained for female and male victims of family violence, although the urban-rural difference was larger for females than males (Table 1.7).
• The rate of family violence against children and youth was lower in Canada's largest cities—referred to as census metropolitan areas or CMAs—than it was in non-CMAs (194 versus 382 per 100,000 population).^Note  More specifically, among the CMAs, rates of family violence were highest in Saguenay and Trois-Rivières (445 and 427 per 100,000, respectively) and lowest in Ottawa, Kelowna and Barrie (107, 126 and 127 per 100,000, respectively) (Table 1.8).
• Rates of violence were higher for female victims in every CMA. The difference between females and males was largest in Kelowna (190 versus 64 per 100,000) and Guelph (217 versus 81 per 100,000) (Table 1.8).

Family-related homicide against children and youth most commonly motivated by frustration, anger or despair

• Family-related homicides occur within complex interpersonal contexts that often involve a history of violence.^Note  Between 2007 and 2017, the most common type of primary motive for family-related homicide involving child and youth victims was by far frustration, anger or despair (63%), a range of emotions typical of offenders exerting control over victims. Regardless of age group, this remained the most common motive for family-related homicide involving child and youth victims. For victims aged 12 to 14 years and 15 to 17 years, an argument or quarrel was also a common type of motive (20% and 23%, respectively) (Table 1.9).
• Between 2007 and 2017, the rate of family-related homicide against children and youth decreased by 18%, from 3.4 to 2.8 per 1 million population. In 2017, there were 20 child and youth victims of family-related homicide and, among children and youth, the rate of family-related homicide was higher than non-family homicide (2.8 versus 1.7 per 1 million population) (Table 1.10).

Detailed data tables

Table 1.1 Child and youth victims of police-reported family and non-family violence, by victim sex, age group and relationship of accused to victim, Canada, 2017

Table 1.2 Child and youth victims of police-reported family and non-family violence, by victim sex, age group and type of violation, Canada, 2017

Table 1.3 Child and youth victims of police-reported family and non-family violence, by victim sex, type of violation and clearance status, Canada, 2017

Table 1.4 Child and youth victims of police-reported family and non-family violence, by sex of victim, type of weapon present and level of injury, Canada, 2017

Table 1.5 Persons accused of police-reported family and non-family violence against children and youth, by accused sex, age group and relationship of accused to victim, Canada, 2017

Table 1.6 Child and youth victims of police-reported family and non-family violence, by victim sex and province or territory, 2016 to 2017

Table 1.7 Child and youth victims of police-reported family and non-family violence, by victim sex, age group and urban or rural area, provinces, 2017

Table 1.8 Child and youth victims of police-reported family violence, by victim sex and census metropolitan area, 2017

Table 1.9 Child and youth victims of family-related and non-family homicide, by age group of victim and type of motive, Canada, 2007 to 2017

Table 1.10 Child and youth victims of family-related and non-family homicide, by victim sex and year, Canada, 2007 to 2017

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